At the turn of the century, after films like Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace and The Matrix reshaped pop culture, early-2000s maximalism was at its peak. Darth Mauls double-sided lightsaber and Neo and Trinitys lobby gunfight where theyre each firing two guns simultaneously, one in each hand became instant teen obsessions.

The Halloween season can be a bit of a challenge for gamers who want the vibes of the season minus the gore. If you try to find recommendations for spooky games fit for October, youll likely come across list after list of terrifying horror games with slasher levels of violence. Thats not exactly helpful if youre looking for something a little more family-friendly. Sometimes you just want cute vampires who arent trying to suck your blood.

It: Welcome to Derry premieres this weekend, taking viewers back to 1962 to witness a new group of kids tormented by an ancient, fear-fueled clown. Much of the original It centers on kids and teens facing terrifying danger, so its no surprise the series follows suit. However, HBOs Welcome to Derry pushes the scares even further than Andy Muschiettis recent It films, and the series sets this brutal new tone faster than audiences may expect.

Lucile Hadihalilovi doesnt make horror films in a traditional sense, though her neo-noir body-horror movie Earwig may come closest. But while The Ice Tower isn't body horror, it still may be one of 2025s creepiest films. Fans of David Lynch and Alfred Hitchcock should go gaga and not just because of its eerie bird attack. (Though that element doesnt hurt.)

If you're a member of Amazon Prime and are looking forward to the upcoming second season of Fallout, then a prime opportunity has just fallen on your lap: Amazon's giving away a fresh lineup of games for free, including Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition.

The Silent Hill games have never been kid-friendly or cozy. From the beginning, the M-rated series has traded in body horror, sexual trauma, graphic violence, gore, and abusive relationships while also dabbling in the occult, space aliens, and an all-seeing, all-knowing Shiba Inu who torments its victims from a sci-fi command station.

Over the last few years, I've watched gamers try to predict the death of Xbox like radical Christians warning the world of the rapture. I've never bought into the doomsaying. Microsoft's gaming strategy was surely shifting as it locked into a subscription service strategy with Game Pass, but Xbox felt like it was still here to stay. Even when the company began flirting with porting its first-party games to competing consoles, I still just saw it as a modern strategy built to get the most money possible out of its most expensive productions or to find greater audiences for niche games like Pentiment.

Marvels Wolverine resurfaced at Wednesdays PlayStation State of Play stream, and in a big way Sony revealed a fall 2026 release window alongside a new trailer showcasing just how violent we can expect Insomniacs next Marvel endeavor to be.

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, in a new RGG Direct stream, has announced that its next major release will be Yakuza Kiwami 3, the next in its Kiwami remake series, tackling 2009's Yakuza 3. Not only is it an extensive reworking of the original game, but it comes with Dark Ties, an entirely new spinoff game starring Yakuza Kiwami 3's antagonist, Yoshitaka Mine.

Midnight Mass showrunner Mike Flanagan loves to work with the same cohort of actors. Hamish Linklater is still waiting for his callback.

Marvel Zombies is Marvel Televisions latest animated project, expanding one of What If?s most memorable episodes into a four-part series. While it takes its name from Robert Kirkmans limited comic run, this version tells an entirely new story following Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) and a crew of unlikely allies as they fight to save a post-apocalyptic world plagued by undead Avengers like Hawkeye, Captain Marvel, and the Scarlet Witch.

In the second episode of Peacemaker season 2, an ARGUS squad goes to the home of Chris Smith (John Cena) to investigate signs of extradimensional activity. They find the mission is far more dangerous than they expected when Chris bald eagle sidekick Eagly absolutely dismantles the group, forcing Langston Fleury (Tim Meadows) and his agents to run for their lives.

[Removes poorly made Rod Serling mask.]

This week, I got my hands on indie tabletop role-playing game sensation MRK BORG. I'm late to the party, but Im making my way through the vast sea of indie TTRPGs, and this one specifically was quite hard to get, on the merit of being sold out basically everywhere. As I parsed through the tantalizing pages of MRK BORG, I quickly realized why the game won Gold in the 2020 ENNIE awards for Best Layout and Design, along with Best Writing and Product of the Year. This is a thing of beauty, spawned by a mind suffused with Heavy Metal music and post-apocalyptic visions.

Jackie Chan Adventures is one of the best Kids WB shows of all time. It stood toe-to-toe with classics such as Animaniacs, newcomers like Static Shock, and acquired cartoons like Yu-Gi-Oh!. But unlike the rest, it came completely out of nowhere. It wasnt attached to the WB brand, DC Comics, or another anime Pokmon competitor. Instead, it was based on some action hero we knew vaguely from the movies our dads and older brothers watched.

Its almost a Zen state of dark enlightenment, Ceesay tells Polygon.

A Dungeon Master wears many hats. Sometimes you are a narrator, other times you are the arbiter of rules. More often, you are a multitasking pseudo-god hooked on caffeine trying to keep everything in check and fight against the tides of chaos.

Sometimes, you just want something comforting and familiar. Thats as true for video games as it is for mac n cheese and chicken soup. But when youre an accomplished game developer like Final Fantasy Tactics remake director Kazutoyo Maehiro, you love the deep cuts as much as the tried-and-true classics.

Zach Creggers Weapons is, without a doubt, a triumph, a critical darling and box-office success that hits hard and leaves plenty to discuss afterward. But for me, it doesn't knock Creggers first foray into the horror scene off its perch: The gut-churningly uncomfortable 2022 thriller Barbarian is still my personal favorite of his movies.

After having played through the first acts of the game, youre more than ready to experience more of the campaign of Path of Exile 2. In update 0.3.0 "The Third Edict," Grinding Gear Games not only adds a fresh act that takes you to a brand-new region, but it also makes adjustments to skills and systems.